Moo Shu Noodles

I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for almost six months and just barely got around to making it. Talk about a bad decision. We ate it for supper last night and it was so fantastic I had to turn around and post about it right away.

I can’t vouch for its authenticity in the Chinese noodles arena, but for our family, it was perfect. Fettuccine stars as the noodles and they are paired with a hoisin/soy sauce mixture that is flavored subtly with ginger and garlic. Add in tender, browned pork, scrambled eggs and sauteed cabbage and you have a pretty darn near perfect meal (at least in my book). The kicker is that it comes together in a flash (think less than 30-minute meals) and it rates high in healthfulness. I am a huge fan of Chinese noodle dishes and this is one of the best homecooked versions we’ve eaten.

The best part of the meal for me, however, was watching my 5-year old eat his entire meal with a pair of chopsticks – one stick in each hand – painstakingly grabbing each noodle and piece of pork inbetween the sticks and holding them in a vice grip up to his mouth. Priceless.

Place a large pot of water over high heat to boil. When the water comes up to a bubble, add some salt and drop in the fettuccine. Cook the pasta to al dente according to package directions. Drain the cooked pasta and reserve.

Combine the hoisin and soy sauce together in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a 12-inch non-stick skillet, heat one tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add eggs and scramble. When done, scrape them onto a plate and reserve.

In the same skillet heat two tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Season the pork with salt and pepper, add to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and cooked through, about 5 minutes (don’t overcook or pork will be tough!). Remove the meat from the pan onto the same plate as the eggs and keep warm.

Add the scallions, ginger and garlic to the pan, and cook until aromatic and the scallions are tender, about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms to the pan and stir-fry until golden brown, 4-5 minutes.

Add the cabbage to the pan and stir-fry until tender, about 3 minutes. When the cabbage is tender, add the reserved pork and scrambled eggs back to the pan along with the hoisin-soy mixture and the chicken broth. Stir-fry to fully heat through, about 1 minute, and then toss with the reserved cooked pasta. Cook to heat through and serve.

I tried this for dinner this past week. I was a little afraid that there would not be enough sauce or flavor, I was soooo wrong!! It was so delish I was hoping for left overs for lunch the next day but nothing was left at all!! I will be making this one again very soon!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

Samantha – my husband and kids love a lot of extra sauce and I had the same concerns as you but my reaction was the same – still delicious! I’m very, very glad it was a hit. Thanks for letting me know.

I just made this for myself and 6 and 3 yaer olds…LOVED it! Fast and Easy. I added crushed up peanuts-sooooooo gooooood.I dont know how I stumbled upon your site, but I am here all the time to see what new recipes you have posted. Love it! Keep them coming, please!

I’ve been wanting to try this dish but was afraid it would lack flavor but boy was I wrong! This dish is fantastic, full of flavor! My husband thought it lacked sauce but over all, very delicious. I on the other hand thought it was perfect as is. Also, I didn’t have pork so I used a new york steak and it was still delicious. Thank you for your easy but full of flavor recipes!

Thanks for posting such yummy recipes. Which brand of hoisin sauce do you use? I bought one once and thought it was nasty and ruined my recipe. I’m sure a good hoisin sauce would make all the difference. Thanks!

One word, YUM! I made this for dinner last night and my son asked me first thing this morning if there were some leftovers that we could share for lunch today. I really enjoy your blog, I also made the dark chocolate brownies this week too. I am the bigger fan of those in my house (which is fine with me!).

Therese – thanks for your comment. It was very nice. I agree that my style of Asian cuisine has to be modified for time and children – meaning no LONG list of crazy ingredients. I hope you like this meal!

Kelly – if your family is averse to cabbage I would just leave it out. By the time the cabbage sautes and wilts in this recipe, it is almost undetectable so I don’t think you would need to substitute anything for it. I bet it would be equally delicious without the cabbage.

Melanie, this looks delicious! I just bought some hoisin sauce and haven’t used it yet. I’ll have to open it up for this one. So cute that your 5 year old used the chopsticks! I wonder if I could get mine to do the same.

Just wanted to say how much I appreciate the Chinese and other “ethnic” recipes you post here. My daughter is a Chinese adoptee and all my kids love Chinese food, but I don’t have the time in my day for recipes that require 200 steps or really crazy ingredients. The recipes you post aren’t too complicated, are “normal” enough for kids to like, and they still get to feel like little food adventurers when they eat them. Thanks!

Melanie, thank you so much for posting this–I have never made a decent Asian dish until now! This was so good, I felt like I could have been sitting at a restaurant instead of my kitchen table, which is amazing considering the usual Asian fare I prepare-it’s always uninspiring. This one is a keeper.

[…] talking 20 minutes from start to finish – how can you argue with that? After making these moo shu noodles, I’ve wanted another great Asian noodle dish and a few weeks ago when dinner needed to be […]

I have had this on my dinner list for a few weeks and finally made it tonight. It was so good! Between mouthfuls, my husband exclaimed, “Wow! This is better than the restaurant!” We both loved a chinese dish that was healthy and filling and full of flavor. Thank you for posting!

Loved it!!! Cheated & used half a bag of bagged coleslaw, it was that kind of day. I used shitake mushrooms since they are hubs favorite. I also swapped 2T dry sherry for part of the chicken broth. I love dry sherry in stir fry sauce, particularly with pork. I’d use more hoisin next time & less soy, that’s my favorite part of Moo Shu. Another awesome recipe!!!

Really good! Our first time cooking with hoisin sauce and it definitely gave it a great flavor. I think we followed the recipe exactly and even my 22 month old ate the noodles (usually doesn’t touch similar meals). Thanks for a great recipe!